Apparatus for manufacture of hollow silverware



LOW SILVERWARE Sept. 27, 1 c. R. MOON APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF HOL Filed May 18, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 "'FIG. 2

INVENTOR C'fiflRL 5 E Mao/v.

.A TTORNEYJ Sept. 27, 1932. c. MOON APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF HOLLOW SILVERWARE Filed May 18, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYJ M the alloy sheets. The

Patented Sept. 27, .1932

Application filed Mayls,

This invention relates to a method and'apparatus for'use in certain steps n the manufacture of hollow silverware, particularly, in th M the manufacture 5 knives.

of hollow handle table In the manufacture of such ware, the knife handles are usually formed in two halves so-called solder which normally melts at a lower temperature than the melting point of principal object of the 15' present invention is to provlde apparatus by 33 of operating head and carriers are-rotated step by step to bring the carriers successively to a number positions, in each of which positrons one of'the necessary operations uniting of thexparts of the handle ormed.

with the joint theresubstantially so that, w en heated to a temperature at which the solderfreely flows;

it is only neces:

saryto touch the end of a solder wire to the,

\ view of the s said column. The carrier head mg arm '26 and horizontal plane t enlarged elevationalview of one of the carriers. Figure 6 is a sectional me taken ignre 5. Figure 7 same taken on the line ure 8 is :1-

1s an end view of the 7-7 of F elevational view illustrating a portion of the indexing mechanism used for moving the carrier-head.

t In the drawings, a base 20 supports a verti- I cal column 21 upon the upper end of which with a plurality of radial arms of which there is mounted a carrier 27.

Each of the carriers 27 consists of an upper jaw 28 immovably fastened to the correspond a lower jaw v29 slidably operating station.

on the line 6 6 of mounted with respect to the upper jaw 28 j and guided by splines 30 carried by said jaw. A lever 31 is pivotally mounted upon respectively of a knife handle 38, as best shown in Figures 5 and 6. For each design 1 sure to the cylinder 45.

- upon stem of the valve 47 50 and at the other end to half of the inafter descr knife handle between and 37. v knife handle is so gr ppedthe joint 24 be- I fluid to cylind 2 of knife handle specially formed grip members are provided.

For placing the knife handles in the carrier, a tool 39, such as shown in Figure 8, is provided. The said tool is in the form of a common pair of pliers having an extension upon one jaw thereof provided with recesses 41 and 42 within which the lower half of the knife handle may be laid. The upper knifehandle is then placed thereon in the proper position and is clamped by the upper jaw 43 of the plier tool. The inner end of the lever '31 is then raised against the action of spring 35 by mechanism to be here- 'bed, the lower jaw 29 is thereby pulleddownwardly and the assembled knife handle is laid upon the lower grip members 37 The lever .31 is then released and the spring 35 moves the jaw 29upwardly to grip the the grip members As is shown in Figure 5, when the tween the two halves is in a substantially horizontal plane.

For rotating the carrier head 22 to move the carriers into successive operating positions, a hydraulic cylinder 45 is provided. An inlet pipe 46 controlled by a valve 47 supplies oilor other operating fluid under pres- An outlet pipe 48, cont-rolledby an outlet valve 49, permits discharge of the fluid therefrom. I lever 50 is pivotally mountedupon a bracket 51 carried the base 20 and engages the operating atone side of its pivot oint and the operating stem of the valve 49 at the opposite side thereof. spring 51 is connected at one end to the lever the base 20 and the stem ofvalve pulls the lever 50 to engage 49 to permit discharge of fluid from the cy linder. A pivotedlever'52- is connected by a link 53 withthe lever 50 and carries at its opposite end a pedal 54; By'pressing downwa rdly on the pedal 54 the stem of. valve 49 is released and the stem of'valve 47 is depressed, thus permitting the entrance of the operating The cylinder 45 is provided with a piston, not shown, to which is connected a piston rod 55, the upper end of which is connected in turn to a sli by guide members 57 and 58 and may be maintained in position by a suitable tongue and groove connection with said guide members. The slide 56 carries at its upper end a roller 59 engaging a guideway 60 in' the cam collar 23. The guideway 60 is formed with a plurality of vertical portions 61 corre sponding in number to, the number of op erating positions at which it is desired to stop the carrier. The vertical portions 61 connected by inclined of the guideway are portions 62. At the entrance of each inclined portion 62 there is provided a switch dog 63 ing its extreme upper A tensmn: lower end to a de 56. The said slide is guided pivotally mounted upon ,the cam collar 23 and normally maintained in the position shown in Figures 1 and 10 by means of a spring 64 carried in a suitable recess in the cam collar. By means of this mechanism, when the pedal 54 is depressed, the operating fluid entering-the cylinder 45 forces the slide 56 and roller 59 upwardly within one of the vertical portions 61 of the guideway. When the said roller reaches the switch dog 63, it is guided into theinclined portion 62 o the guideway and thusrotates the cam collar, carrier head and carriers. Upon reachposition, the roller 59 has reached the upper end of the next succeeding vertica portion 61 of the guideway. If now the pedal 54 is-released, the operating fluid escapes from the-cylinder 45 and the slide 56 and roller 59 are free to drop by gravity. In this movement, the roller 59 passes downwardly in the vertical portion 61 of the guideway and, in passing the switch dog 63, it forces'the same from its path against the action of the spring 64.

and

nected thereto and pivotally connected at its lever 68 carrying a pedal 69.

The lever 68 is pivotally mounted upon a lug '70 carried by the base 20 and is maintained with the pedal in the upraised position by means of a tension spring 1. By this means, when the pedal 69 is depressed, the rod 67 is elevated to engage the lever 31 and thereby move the lower jaw 29 of the'carrier downwardly. T When so moved. the finished knife handle mav be removed and the two halves of the succeeding knife handle may the carrier as previously described:

In Figure 2. the carrier 27 b is positioned, at the so-called pro-heating station. t this position, there is prpvided a bracket 7 2 forming'a part of a casting 7 3 clamped about the column 21. The said bracket carries a pair of horizontal. trackways 74. A burner carriage 7 5 fitted with rollers 7 6 rolls upon said trackway. The said carriage carries a pair of gas burners .77 which are supplied with fuel by a flexible connection 78 and which arenormally positioned as shown in Figure 2. In that position, each burner throws a flame 7 8 upon the knife handle in the carrier and in this manner pre-heats the said handle to a desired preliminary temperature.

The carriage 7 5 carries on its undersurface a'lug 7 9 to which is pivotally connected :1 lin 67 v pivotally conbe placed in 80, the'opposite end of to t engages the roller 87, thus forcing 81 to the right in Figure e carriage and the burner path of the carrier 27?) before the and moving t 77 from the In Figure 2, the carrier 270 is positioned at a. so-called soldering position. position, there is provided a vertical column 89, upon the upper end of which there is cartemperature at which the silver solder freely. It is then only necessary to flows freely along the joint and effectually halves of the bv hand upon the trackway 92 When the solering operation is complete. However, the

with mechanism similar to that described for moving the burner In Figure 2, the carrier 27b is positioned at the so-called cooling station. point, the knife handles are cooled tory to their removal at the loading and receiving station. At this station, no further apparatus is necessary.

1 or accurately positioning the carriers at the various operating positions, there is provided on each of the arms 26 a downwardlyprojecting indexing pin 102 adapted to engage an indexing groove 104 in a block 103 having an inclined face. The block 103 is prepara- At thiscarried upon the upper end of a stem 105 slidably mounted in a bracket 106 formed as a part of the casting 73. The block 103 is upwardly pressed by a compression spring stem. The lower end of the stem 105 is linked to one arm of a bell crank 108 pivotally mounted upon the guide 0 member 57. he opposite arm of the bell roller .109 engageable with a cam 110 carried by the slide 56. In the upthe block loWnWardly to disengage the indexing groove 104 from the indexingpin 102. When the next succeeding inpin has been brought into position In the use of the apparatus, one inan preferably performs the soldering operationwhile a helper places handles in th This serves as a signal to thehelper to press operate the apparatus to the pedal 54 and move the next succeeding carrier dering position.

ering position in a pre-heated condition so that the actual time of the soldering opera tion is reduced to a minimum. soldering operation,-the helper has ample time to operate the pedal 69 and to remove and replace thehandles.

he invention claimed is:

n apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support, a plurality of mova le carriers carried thereby,

into the solsuccessively to a number of operating stations, and a heater at one of said stations'for heating said handles, said heater including a burner positioned at each side of a carrier When stopped atsaid operating station and adapted to play a flame upon each side of said handle, said heater also being movable out of' the path of said carriers to permit movement thereof to the next succeeding station.

' n apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support, a plurality of movable carriers carried thereby, each of said carriers being adapted halves of the same in the proper relation for a finished handle and said carriers being open at each side to permit access to said handle, indexing mechanism for moving said carriers step by The handles reach the sol During the each of said card to grasp the tWo halves of,

ido

. side of a carrier step to bring the same successively to a number of operating stations, a heater at one of said stations for heating said handles, saidheater including a burner positioned at eac when stopped at said operating station and adapted to play a flame upon each side of said handle, said heater also being movable outof the path of said carriers to permit movement thereof to the next succeeding station, and mechanism automatically operable by the operation of said indexing mechanism toso move said heater.

In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a'support, a carrier head rotatably carried thereby, a plurality of car-, riers mounted on said head, each of said carriers beino adapted grasp the two halves of a split knife handle andinaintain the same in the proper relation for a finished handle, said carriers being open at each side to permit access to said handle, indexing mechanism tor moving said carriers step by step to bring-the same successively to a. num ber of operatingstations, and a heater at one of said stations for heating saidhandles, said heater including a burner positioned each side of a carrier when stoppedat said operating station and adapted to play a dame upon each side of said handle.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support, acarrier head rotatably carried therebv, a plurality of carriers" mounted on said head, each of said carriers being adapted to grasp the two halves of a split knife handle and maintain the same in the proper relation for a finished handle, said carriers'being open at each s de to permit access to said handle, lIlClBXlilg mechanism for moving said carriers step-by step to bring the same successively to a number of operating stations, and a heater at one of said stations for heating said handles, said heater including a burner positioned at each side of a carrier when stopped at said operating station and adapted. to play flame upon each side of said handle, said'heater also being movable out of the path oi" said carriers to permit movement thereofto the next succeeding station. 5. ln apparatus of the class described, the combinationof a support,-a carrier head rotatably carried thereby, a plurality of carriers mounted on said head, each of said carriers being adapted to gr asp the tWo halves of asplitknife handle and maintain the same in the proper relation carriers being open at access to said handle, indexing mechanism for moving said carriers step by step to bring the same successivel to a number of operating stations, a heater at one oi said stations for heating said handles, said heater including a burner positioned at each side of a car-, rier when stopped at said operating station and adapted to play a'fiame upon each each side to permit for a finished handle, said side of said handle, said heater also being movable out of the path of said carriers to permit movement thereof tion, anclinechanism automatically operable by theoperation of said indexing mechanism to so move said burner.

6. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination of a central vertical column, a.

carrier head rotatabl-y carried thereby, a cam collar fastened to said carrier iead and having a guideway formed therein, said guideay having a plurality of: portions arranged longitudinally of said collar'and inclined connecting portions connectin said longitudinal portions, a member engaging said guideway and reciproeable in a direction substantially parallel to the aXis of rotation of said carrier head and collar, switch dogs normally'positioned to guide said member into the inclined portions of said guideway to rotate said carrier head and collar in the movement of said member in one direction, said dogs being movable to permit passage of said member through the longitudinal portions of said guideway in its movement in the opposite direction, and means for reciprocating said member.

in Witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

, CHARLES ILMOON,

to the next succeeding sta-. 

